Cholmondeley served as High Sheriff of Cheshire in 1792 and then in 1796 was elected to the House of Commons for his father's old seat of Cheshire, which he retained until 1812. In 1821 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Delamere of Vale Royal in the County of Chester. The current baron, the 5th Baron Delamere, paints a picture of his early-19th century ancestor with deft, harsh strokes:

"[The 1st Baron Delamere] was an idiot who decided it would be impressive to have a peerage. He thought he had a bargain when he paid 5,000 for it. The only problem was that the going rate was 1,200. Before he came along we had been content to be shire knights in Cheshire, when William the Conqueror gave us the whole county."[4]

The marriage of the baron's third son, Henry, produced nine grandchildren; and of these, Lionel would become chaplain to the British Embassy in Tokyo[6] and would write the first English-language history of the isolated Bonin Islands, including notes of changes which evolved after annexation by MeijiJapan in 1875.[7]

Cholmondeley died at age 88 in October 1855. He was succeeded in the land, estates and title by his eldest son Hugh Cholmondeley.[1]